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Evaluation of a Nurse Education Workshop on Children's Grief
Linda Kristjanson
Professor, Faculty of Nursing, RMIT School of Nursing, Edith Cowan University, WA
Kerry Cousins
Silver Chain Home Hospice Service Inc, Perth WA
Rosemary Macpherson
Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth WA
Gaye Dadd
Clinical Manager, Oncology Total Care Unit, King Edward Memorial and Princess Margaret, Hospitals, Perth WA
Rosemary Watkins
Silver Chain Grief Support Service, Perth WA
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the development and evaluation of an educational program to increase the knowledge of hospice and paediatric nurses who support grieving children and improve their attitudes toward death and bereavement.
The specific target groups for the project included nurses providing care through community-based hospice services and inpatient palliative care units, as well as nurses providing inpatient and community-based care at a children's teaching hospital. Fifty-nine nurses from hospice, community and inpatient settings participated in three workshops.
Results indicated that the workshop produced a sustained improvement in bereavement knowledge among the nurses and an improvement in their attitudes toward death and bereavement.
Keywords
children, grief, bereavement, education, nursing, intervention
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